Even though the advice to "kill your darlings" implies editing your writing is a painful process, some writers relish it. At The New York Times, Pamela Erensdiscusses the pleasures of trimming down her writing. "For every word I cut, I seem to have more space between my ribs, more lung capacity." For more Erens, read her essay on accepting her book cover.

I promise you that the best thing you’ll read today is this remembrance of the Kilimanjaro climbin’, chemotherapy-cocktail imbibin’, tank bustin’ and cricket playin’ life of Major Robert Crisp, D.S.O, M.C.

The Iowa Review will begin accepting submissions for the Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award for Veterans on April 15. The award honors creative writing by members of the U.S. military, and it’s open to both veterans as well as active duty personnel.

Roger Boylan at the Boston Review writes about the flourishing posthumous career of Mark Twain: "...more than 5,000 previously unknown letters of Twain’s have surfaced in the last 50 years. This represents an average of two new letters per week, but still only about one-tenth of the 50,000 or so he is believed to have written." And at Slate,Craig Fehrmandiscusses the "brilliant brand management" behind the handling of Twain's autobiography.